Looking into a beach detector

[Kimo]

After using my at pro for mainly everything expect salt water, I decided to look into a beach detector. I'm in Southern California. I have used my at pro in the salt water/dry sand. I've found coins at around 6 inches or so.

The question is, should i save up for a high end machine or settle for something like a sand shark? I really like the way the excal 2 looks and i'm sure it performs well. I want something 100% water proof.

Is the jump in price worth the performance. I hear good things about the Sand shark and i also good things about the excal.

Any advice, I do not plan to purchase this right away. Maybe in the next couple of months. Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance

 

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[Irishgoldhound]

I would go for the Excal

 

[Terry Soloman]

With the AT Pro, you are already set for dry sand hunting. Why not get the Pulse Induction machine for wet sand and water hunting? My 8" Sand Shark gets just as deep or deeper than the Excal, is a lot less expensive and has a MUCH better warranty. It has paid for itself Many times over. Whatever you do, best of luck and big gold to you!

 

[saltednuts]

check out the fisher cz 21

 

[R.Danneskjold]

check out the fisher cz 21

I have an Excal, Had a Sandshark and my CZ gets here tomorrow! I'll let ya know what I think after I hit the beach but ya can't go wrong with any of them.......

 

[lost items recovery]

If you could afford it, I'd go with the excal.
Had a whites mxt, beach hunter 300 ID, dual field pi pro, Tesoro sand shark, then back to a dual field, now have a excal 1000 "old blue" and I'd never part with it.

 

[Jackalope]

Some testing done on a few beach detectors (not by me) ... for comparison.



Jackalope

 

[penzfan]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...298675&type=2&theater&notif_t=video_processed

 

[bigscoop]

My suggestion, go wherever your confidence lies. Nothing worse then being on the beach with uncertainty and suspicion in your hand. Having said this, find a local detecting club so you can gather first hand advice, probably even get free tutoring on all the various machines, the likes, dislikes, advantages and disadvantages, etc. Tnet is a great place to ask, "what machine" but we all have our favorite machines because that's where our confidence lies. All of these will be top of the line performers, however, what performs well in one part of the country may not perform so well in another due to different ground conditions, etc. Whenever possible, always best to go straight to the local sources with local experience.

 

[redcobra8u]

I made the leap from the AT Pro to the Excal. Also live in Southern California and love the way it performs. Don't think you'll be disappointed but it does take some time to learn the machine. I still use the AT Pro now and then on trashy dry beaches but for the most part, the Excal gets the nod. Good luck!

 

[penzfan]

Really liking my Sand Shark, but it's like bigscoop says, it's all about confidence. hh

 

[Vikingblood]

I'm getting the the old excal since it has some discrimination and I have heard some guys say it has tones that after using the machine a lot, you can just tell what some things like pull tabs and bottle caps sound like and not have to dig them and to me the machine just has to run stable in the salt and I hear it is a very stable machine. There is just to much junk on the beaches of New Jersey to use a full on PI machine, although the new ATX sounds awesome as well. I can get a used one with the small coil for like 600 so I think I'm gonna get it. It was just serviced by Minelab as well they had to fix a pot. Remember that some of the water detectors have permanent coils you have to send them in to change them. The CTX 3030 seems to have more robust software and stable operation in the salt than most other VLF/multiple frequency (nonPI) units and it seems to get a little better depth in the wet salt than my v3i and runs a bit more stable. My friend has a ctx3030 and we always check each others targets to compare traits; strengths and weakness and yes his is better over all and it's an easy unit to swing, its balanced nicely. But it's crazy expensive. Then you have to get waterproof head phones for it. The whites surfmaster pro is nice and I'm sure it's deep but it looks like a beast to swing all day, and again Jersey beaches are trashy so I'd be digging all day. The whites dual field unit sounds very promising but I think it doesn't discriminate much if at all. Overall both units are probably nice and stable which is o, so important for your sanity. And the excal seems to hit more gold chains which seem
To be hard to find. The Tesoro has a longer warranty, which seems nice since these water machines seem to break more for obvious reasons. I don't know what to get at this point but I can't wait any longer to get in that water. My friend with the CTX laughs at me when he finds rings that in the water that I can't get to with my non waterproof v31:bang head.

 

[lost items recovery]

Get what's right for you. If you don't want to dig iron then yes 86 the PI units. For the record, 2 things! Whites dual field is a PI unit with something like a discrimination which is pulse delay. I've owned it and it goes deep and can find good targets but seemed I was just still digging iron but now at much deeper depths. When I say deep I mean deep! Deep wasn't fun in the wet sand when trying to recover a bottle cap that sank repeatedly while the deeper I got the more water was in the hole. After what seemed like 15 minutes I recovered it and was wiped out and pissed off to say the least! On the pull tab situation.... You kind of have to dig them because they sound pretty close to rings if not identical. If you crank up your discrimination on let's say a pull tab air test or one you've buried yourself you'll be missing out on the goodies. I started with some industrial whites detector that was pretty much useless for what I'd later on learn on beach hunting. Then moved onto a whites beach hunter 300 id which wasn't bad but felt I was missing the deeper stuff so I entered the pi world with a dual field and wasn't crazy about it but did get a few rings. Next was a Tesoro sand shark pi, was smoking the beach for a while until I got sick of a few problems with leaking and about 3 replacements and repairs. Don't get me wrong my buddy hunted with the same machine right by my side for a year without ever having a problem! May have been the dealer banging up the display models they always seemed to stick me with. Tesoro was great and helped me out every time to ensure I had a repaired machine but shipping costs were killing me. After questioning the quality of there products as far as water proofing goes I saw my shot to get out when they finally sent me a brand new machine still sealed in the box. I brought it to my local dealer still factory sealed and paid the difference towards the dual field again until I finally said I'll never dig iron again! I bought a used excalibur 1000 (old blue style) and feel I'll never part with it or by another detector again. I learned a few things on modification tips from OBN who is a genius with excals and with his guidance did some modifications myself. Pinpoint / discrimination toggle switch mod., made a straight shaft, and then installed a new coil. I love my machine and hope you find what's best for you as I did trying quite a bit of them. Good luck and happy hunting!

 

[Vikingblood]

Good info.